Ratto: Precarious ‘pen in playoffs

Rivera, Nathan, got it. Billy Wagner, yeah, but not like the first two. Trevor Hoffman, sure, even with a changeup as the out pitch.

Now name the other ones, and see which one gives you the best case of the cuddles. And we mention this because the A’s are not as solid there as you true believers might think.

Is the A’s bullpen good enough?

Detroit: Todd Jones. Thirty-seven saves, four blown, an ERA of about a thousand. It should be Joel Zumayam, but he’s a little young and erratic for this gig.

St. Louis: The Cardinals have two saves this month, so it could be anybody. Who it is for the moment, though, is Adam Wainwright, even though Braden Looper has had experience. Jason Isringhausen is out, and probably, so are the Cardinals.

Los Angeles: Takashi Saito, who has been good but not nearly the lights-out guy you want.

And of course, Huston Street, who struck out the only three Mariners he faced Wednesday night but who also has 10 blown saves (as many as Francisco Cordero, and only two less than Ambiorix Burgos, both of whom play on far worse teams) and who has not been nearly as effective as Justin Duchscherer down the stretch.

Does this mean a change should be made? Don’t be a meathead. But the bullpen has been praised to high heaven for its outsized role in getting the Biggidy-Big into October, and right now, it isn’t as good as two the other three AL playoff teams, and the third has better setup men (now that Chad Gaudin has become more watchable than Kiko Calero).

In short, the A’s dreams are just a hair more difficult to realize than we thought. In even shorter, they go as far as the starters, and Frank Thomas, will take them.